Mail-catcher.



c. 0. LAWRENCE.

MAIL GATGHER. APPLICATION FILED JAIL-21.1914.

Patented Nov. 3,1914

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0, PHom-LITHO.. WASHINGTON. n. C.

G. G. LAWRENCE. MAIL 'GATGHEB. APPLIOATIOR TILED JAN. 27. 1914.

Patented Nov. 3, 191.4.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

G. G. LAWRENCE.

MAIL GATCHER. APPLIGATION FILED JAILZY. 1914.

Patented N0v.'3,1914.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. F'HOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON. D. c.

G. G. LAWRENCE. MAIL GATOHER.

APPLICATION ,I'ILBD JAN. 27, 1914. 1, 1 1 5,842. Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0, PHOm-L|Th- WASHINGTON. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES CLIFFORD LAWRENCE, OF NAPOLEON, INDIANA.

MAIL-cA'rcHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 27, 1914. Serial No. 814,721.

This invention relates to a mail catcher,

and the principal object of the invention is to provide a mail catcherwhich is so constructed that when the sack is caught, the holding andcatching means will swing to an inoperative position and thus move thecatching and delivering arms to a position where'they will not extendtoward the train or station.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the catching anddelivering means that they will move simultaneously to an operative orinoperative position.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the device that thetrigger which holds the arms in an operative position will be releasedby a sack caught by the catch ing element of the device.

Another object of the invention is to 'so construct the device that whena sack is engaged by the catching means, the holding means will turn inthe direction to permit the sack to be easily removed from the holdingmeans.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the catching arm thatwhen the trigger is releasedytheweight of the catching arm will causethe catching arm to swing to a lowered position and transmit rotarymotion to the shaft of the supporting arms so that the supporting armswill swing to an inoperative position.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the device that thetrain element and track element will be constructed along the same linesand thus permit the mail catcher to be very cheaply made the parts beinginterchangeable.

Another object of the invention is to so construct and mail catcher thatthe device will be very strong and durable and not liable to easily getout'of order.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein-Figure 1 is a view in elevation showing the train device and trackdevice in an inoperative position; Fig. 2 is a view showing the mailcatcher in top plan and an operative positlon, the car belng shown inlongi- PatentedNov.3,1914i. a I

tudinal section and the upper portion of the 1 frame of the stationdevice. being broken away; Fig. 3 1s a new in elevation looking from theleft of Fig. 2 with the holding arms of the station device shown brokenaway. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the station device in an operativeposition.

The train device is mounted inthe doorway 10 of the mail car 11, and ispartially carrier by the standard 12 and partially by the side 13 of theframe which forms the door-way." The holding means is entirely carriedby-the standard 12 by means of bearing brackets 14: which rotatablysupport the shaft 15 from which there extends the upperand lower arms16. A beveled gear 17 is rigidly mounted upon the shaft 15 at a pointintermediate its length so that rotary motion may be transmitted to theshaft 15. Fingers 18 are'pivotally mounted in longitudinally-extendingpockets formed in the arms 16 and extend beyond the outer ends of thearms sothat the fingers may engage the upper and lower eyes 19 of a mailbag Y20 and releasably. hold the mail bag in the vertical position shownin Fig. 1. Springs 21 are mounted in the housings'and engage the fingers18 to normally hold the fingers in a substantially horizontal position.These fingers are prevented from being moved beyond the horizontalposition by the heels 22 which engage thehousings in thesame manner asshown at the right of Fig. 3. It should also be noted that the springs21 are also mounted in the housings in the same manner as shown in Fig.3. In order to con-- V nect the mail sack with the fingers, it isnecessary tov move the fingers against the tension of the springs 21 andtherefore there has been provided extensions 23 which may be grasped bythe mail clerk when it is desired to move the fingers.

The shaft 24 which forms part of the catching means of the train elementhas one end portion journaled in the standard 12 and the other endportion journaled in the sleeve 25 which is secured to the frameof thedoor-way by means of bolts 26 which pass through the arms 27. A bevelgear 28 is rigidly mounted upon this shaft 24; beyond the standard 12and mesheswith the bevel pivotally connected with the jaw 31 by gear 17so that when the shaft 24 is rotated, rotary motion will be transmittedto the shaft 15. A sleeveor horizontal arm 29 is connected with theshaft 24 by means of the bracing legs 30 and carries a jaw 31 adjacentits outer end and a block 32 adjacent one of the legs 30. The trigger 33which is means of the pin 34 is pivotally connected with a leaf spring36 carried by the block 32. This spring 36 will therefore normally holdthe trigger in the position shown in Fig. 1. The second jaw 37 issecured to the outer end of the stem 38 and is provided upon its in nerface with a rack 39 which may be engaged by the trigger as shown in Fig.2 and the trigger thus held in a position to hold the two jaws in anopen position. This stem 38 extends through the sleeve 29 and through anopening formed in the shaft 24. A spring 40 is mounted upon the stem 38between the sleeve 29 and abutment 41 and normally holds the stem in theposition shown in Fig. 1. A lug 42 is provided at the inner end of thestem 38 and is engaged by a sliding pin latch 43 which is slidablymounted in a bracket 44 carried by the sleeve 25. A spring 45 is mountedupon the pin 43 and engages an abutment 46 to yieldably hold the pin inthe normal position shown Fig. 2.

After the mail sack has been connected with the fingers 18, the handleis grasped and the shaft 24 is rotated to swing the catching device tothe position shown in Fig. 2 and rotate the shaft 15 and swing the arm16 to the position shown in this figure. The stem 38 is then movedoutwardly until the lug 42 is engaged by the latch pin 43 and thetrigger is moved to the position shown in Fig. 2 to hold the jaw inspaced relation. If desired, the stem 38 can be moved to the extendedposition and the jaws held .in spaced relation by means of the triggerbefore the shaft 24 is rotated to extend the catching device. When amailsack is caught by the catching device, the sack strikes thetrigger andmoves the trigger to the position shown in Fig. 1. The spring 40 willthen .move the stem 38 to bring the jaws in tight engagement with themail sack and at the same time move the lug 42 out of engagement withthe pin 43. The weight of the catching device will then cause thecatching device to swing downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1 andturn the shaft 15 to swing the arms 16 into the car. The mail sack whichis held by the arms 16 will be engaged by the catching device of thetrack element and as the arms swing inwardly, the mail sack will bedrawn off of the fingers 18. As these arms turn in the direction of therear end of the car, the mail sack may be easily removed from thefingers and there link 35, which link is secured to'the.

Fig. 1. In order n an open position, there has an opening 85 formed inthe is no danger of the eyes 19 binding upon the fingers 18 and thuscausing the fingers or sack to be damaged.

The'station element of this mail catcher is very similar to the traindevice. The standards 48 and 49 are slidably mounted in" the supports 50and are provided with racks 51 which are engaged by the gears 52. Thesegears 52 are rigidly mounted upon the shaft 53 between the bearings 54which rotatably support the shaft 53. A handle or crank 55 is providedso that the shaft 53 maybe rotated to raise the standards to such aheight that the station element will be in the proper position toco'ciperate with the train element. The upper end portion 56 of thestandard 48 is bent toward the standard 49 as shown at 57 and thencarried parallel to the standard 49, and has its upper end connectedwith the upper end of the standard 49 by means of a cross bar 58.

The vertical shaft 59 which corresponds tothe shaft 15 is rotatablyconnected with the standard 49 by means of the bearing bracket 60 andcarries arms 61 which correspond to the arms 16. Fingers 62 whichcorrespond to the fingers 18 are pivotally mounted in. the outer endportions of the housings 63 formed in the arms 61 and are provided withheels 64 which limit the pivotal movement of the fingers 62. Springs 65are secured to the pins 66 carried by the fingers 62 and are passedaround the pins 67 and secured to the pins 68 adjacent the inner ends ofthe housings 63. Extensions 69 which form hand-holds are provided sothat the fingers 62 may be moved to a position to permit the stationmaster to connect the pins 62 with the eyes 70 of the mail bag 71.

The shaft 72 which corresponds to the shaft 24 is mounted between theupper end portions of the standards 48 and 49 and has one end ournaledin the sleeve 73 of the bearing bracket 74 and has its opposite endjournaled in the standard 4.9. A bevel gear 75 is rigidly mounted uponthe end of the shaft 72 which extends beyond the standard 49 and mesheswith the bevel gear 76 carried by the shaft 59 so that rotary motion maybe transmitted from the shaft 72 to the shaft 59. The aw 7 7 extendsfrom the outer end of the sleeve 78 which is connected with the shaft 72by means of the bracing legs 79. The stem 80 which carries the movableaw 81 extends through the sleeve 78 and through an opening formed in theshaft 72. A spring 82 is mounted upon the stem 80 and engages theabutment 83 to normally hold the stem 80 in the position shown in tohold the jaws 78 and 81 been provided a trigger 84 which is pivotallymounted in jaw 77 and engages the rack 86 formed upon the inner face ofthe jaw 81. This trigger 84 is pivotally stems 38 and inwardly.

connected. with a'link 87 Which is connected with a leaf spring 88carried by the block 89. A latch pin 90 is slidably supported. by meansof a bracket 91 secured to, the sleeve 7 3 and is yieldably held in aposition to engage the lug 92 formed upon the inner end i have beenopened and secured in the open position by means of the triggers 33 and8fl, the shafts 24; and 7 2 are rotated by means of the handles orlevers 47 and 95 to swing catching arms outwardly and rotate the shafts15 and 59 to swing the sack-holding arms outwardly. The latch pins 43and 90 will engage the lugs 12- and 92 to hold the catching arms in theraised position and prevent them from swinging downwardly before themail sacks have been caught. The station device has its standardsadjustably mounted so that when this mail catcher is erected, thestandards of the station device may be adjusted to a suitable height tocause the catching and holding arms of the train and stationdevices toassume the positions shown in Fig. 3 when the train passes the station.It should also be noted that if desired, the station, master can raiseand lower the station device by turning the shaft 53 in order that hemay conveniently reach the catching and holding arms when it isnecessary to place a sack in position or when it is necessary to makerepairs. 1'

When the train approaches the station, the catching arm of the stationdevice passes above the catching arm'of the train device and will engagethe sack carried by the fingers 18. At the same time a catching arm ofthe train device will engage the sack carried' by the fingers 62. Asthesev sacks engage the triggers 33 and 8a, the triggers will be movedto release the movable jaws and permit the springs 40 and 82 to move theThis will cause the stems to be released from the latches 43 and 90, andthe catching arms will then swing downwardly to rotate the shafts 2-1and 7 2, thus transmitting rotary motion to the shafts 15 and 59 toswing the sack-holding arms inwardly. It will thus be seen that when themail bags are caught by the engaging arms, the sack caught by the trainelement will be swung into the car, and the sack caught by the stationelement will be swung downwardly to a position between the standards 18and 19 and above the shaft 53. The mail bags can now be removed by therailway mail clerk and by the station master and new sacks connectedwith the supporting arms if desired. This mail catcher will be verydurable since the parts are very strong and comparatively few in number,and it will thus be seen that the 70 It will also be readily seen thatwith this mail catcher can be cheaply made.

device most of the parts of the station device and-tram devlce will beinterchangeable since the station ClQVlCQgfl-Ild train device arepractically duplicates of each other.

The only dilference between the two devices is the substitution of thestandards 6L8 and 49 for the standard 12 and car frame 13 andtheprovision of the supports and adjusting means for the standards 48and a9.

WVhat is claimed is:

1. A mail bag holding and catchingdevice comprising a support, avertical shaft rotatably connected with saidsupport, arms extending fromsaid shaft, sack holding means yieldably connected with said arms, ahorizontal shaft rotatably connected with said support, means fortransmitting rotary motion from said horizontal to said vertical shaft,a catching arm extending from said horizontal shaft and provided at itsfree end with means for engaging a mail bag, means for releasablyholding the bag engaging means in an open position, said means pivotallymoving to a'released position by a mail bag caught by said catching arm,means for engaging the catching arm when in an extended position to holdthe catching arm in a raised position and prevent rotation of said.horizontal shaft, and means for moving said catching arm out ofengagement with said last-mentioned means when a sack 1s caught topermlt the catching armto swing downwardly and rotatesaid horizontalshaft,

to transmit rotary 'mo-tion to said vertical shaft "and rotatethe sameto swing said sack-holding arms inwardly. i

2. A mail bag holding and catching device comprising a support,bag-holding means rotatably connected with said support, bag-catchingmeansrotatably connected with said support, means for transmittingrotary motion from said catching means to said holding means, means for'releasably holding said catching means in an extended position,

and means operated by a sack engaged by; said catching means forpermitting Sit-1d catching meansto move out of engagement with saidlast-mentioned meanswhen a sack is caught and moved to aninope'rative'position and rotate said sack-engaging means to cause, thesack-holding means to swing to an inoperative position.

3. A mail bag holding and catching de vice comprising a support, ahorizontal shaft rotatably carried by said support,- a sleeve extendingfrom said shaft, a jaw at the outer I end of said sleeve, a stemslidably mounted in said sleeve and extending through an opening formedin said shaft, a jaw at the outer end of said stem, a trigger carried byone of said jaws for engaging the other of said jaws for holding saidjaws in an open position, resilient means for normally holding said stemin a position to hold said jaws in a closed position, means releasablyengaging said stem when said stem is extended and said shaft rotated tohold said catching means ina raised position, bag-holding meansrotatably connected with said support, and means for transmitting rotarymotion from said shaft to said bag-holding means, said trigger beingmoved to a released position by a mailbag passing between said jaws andsaid resilient means then moving said stem inwardly out of engagementwith the means engaging its inner end to permit said sleeve and stem toswing downwardly and rotate said shaft to transmit rotary motion to saidbag-holding means and swing the same to an inoperative position.

L. A mail bag holding and catching device comprising catching meansincluding a rotatably mounted shaft, a sleeve connected with said shaftand extending at substantially right angles thereto, a jaw at the outerend of said sleeve, a stem slidably mounted in said sleeve and extendingthrough an opening formed in said shaft, a jaw at the outer end of saidstem, a trigger carried by one of said jaws for engaging the other ofsaid jaws to releasably hold said jaws in an open position, a springmounted upon said stem having one end engaging the inner end of saidsleeve and the other engaging an abutment formed upon said stem fornormally urging said stem inwardly to' hold said jaws in a closedposition, means for engaging said stem when said stem is extended andsaid catching'means raised to an ino crative position for releasablyholding the catching means in an operative position, sack-holding meansrotatably connected with said support, and means for transmitting rotarymotion from said shaft to said holding means whereby when a sack iscaught by said catching means and said stem moved out of engagement withthe means engaging its inner end said catching means will swingdownwardly and rotate its shaft to transmit rotary motion to saidholding means and swing the same to an inoperative position.

5. A mail bag holding and catching device comprising a support, abearing bracket carried by said. support, a rotatably mounted shafthaving one end mounted in said. bearing of said bracket, a sleeveconnected with said shaft, a stem slidably mounted in said sleeve, jawscarried by the outer end portions of said sleeve, a stem, means foryieldably holding said stem in a position to normally hold said jaws ina closed position, means for releasably holding said jaws in an openposition, a bracket carried by said bearing bracket, a latch pinslidably carried by said last-mentioned bracket, a spring mounted uponsaid pin and engaging an abutment provlded thereon for yieldably holdingsaid pin in a the spring mounted upon said stem moving said stem out ofengagement with sald latch pin when a mail sack is caught between saidJZLWS to'permit said stem to swing downwardly and rotate said shaft, asack-hold- .ing means rotatably connected with said support and meansfor transmitting rotary motion from said shaft to said sack-holdingmeans.

6. A mail bag holding and catching device comprising a support, bagcatching means carried by said support and including a rotatably mountedshaft, a sleeve connected with said shaft, a stem slidably mounted insaid sleeve, jaws extending from the outer end portions of said sleeveand stem, resilient means for normally holding said stem in a positionto hold said jaws in a closed position, a trigger pivotally connectedwith the jaw of said sleeve, a spring carried by said sleeve, a linkcarried by said spring and pivotally connected with said trigger, saidspring normally holding said trigger in an inoperative position, meansfor releasably engaging said stem for holding the stem in a raisedposit-ion, said stem being moved out of engagement with saidlastmentioned means when a mail bag caught between said jaws moves saidtrigger out of engagement with the jaw of said stem and swing downwardlyto rotate said shaft, sackholding means rotatably connected with saidsupport, and means for transmitting rotary motion from said shaft tosaid sack-holding means.

7. A mail bag holding and catching device comprising a support, a. shaftrotatably connected with said support, a sleeve, arms connected withsaid sleeve with said shaft and holding the same in spaced relationthereto, a stem slidably mounted in said sleeve and extending through anopening formed in said shaft, an abutment carried by said stem betweensaid sleeve and shaft, a spring mounted upon said stem between saidsleeve and abutment, jaws carriedloy the outer end portions of saidsleeve and stem, means for holding said jaws in an open position, saidspring moving said stem inwardly to move said jaws to a closed positionwhen said last-mentioned means is moved to a released position by a sackcaught between said jaws, means for releasably engaging the inner endportions of said stem for holding said stem in a raised position, saidstem moving out of engagement with said last-mentioned means when saidsack has been caught between said jaws and swung downwardly to rotatesaid shaft, sack-holding means rotatably connected with said support,and means for transmitting rotary motion from said shaft to saidsack-engaging means.

8. A mail bag holding and catching de vice comprising a supportincluding standards, sack-catching means rotatably connected with saidsupport between said standards, sack-holding means rotatably connectedwith one of said standards, means for transmitting motion from saidcatching to said holding means whereby when said catching means swingsto an inoperative position after catching a sack said holding means willbe swung to an inoperative pos1- tion, means for releasably holding thecatch ing means in an operative position, and means for releasablyholding said catching means in a position for engagement by said lastmentioned means.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES CLIFFORD LAWRENCE.

Witnesses:

JAs. H. NEWMAN, CLYDE F. LUTES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C.

